Mind over matter
by ArtemisApollo97
Summary: ***SEQUEL TO ALVIE*** The last we saw of Alvie was a blood-splattered cloak. Where is he now, when they need him? Melanie has struck at the very heart of New York, but her wrath won't end there. A psychic would come in handy...
1. Uh oh

**It's the sequel! And before we start, I need to reply to some guest reviews from the last one:**

**To KJtheELMtree- maybe… maybe not… **

**To AltonPoseidon- I bet she's terrified ;)**

**To Guest- fandom jump? That's a new phrase, I like that :D **

**To Guest- It didn't end at 99. It ended at 100! :3**

**Apologies if I've missed any guest reviews and sorry for the delay in posting the sequel. I don't know how often I can update 'cos I got this idea and then an idea for later on, but nothing in between. As usual.**

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><p>Everything went downhill after Alvie disappeared. Melanie, although no-one ever saw her away from the TV via hijacked air waves, made her power known through her minions. There was far more than Crystal had known at the palace dedicated to Poseidon- they were all over the world, conducting sieges on governments and cities alike. The mortals did what they could and demigods and legacies helped on the sly, but there was no way to succeed. They may take down a few of the enemy. More just popped up, battling on a psychic plane more than a physical one. Sage had caught the brunt of one of their mind attacks and the terror induced had left her comatose for a fortnight.<p>

Crystal frowned out the window, toying with the ring Alvie had left her. She didn't normally wear rings, but it was Alvie's last gift to her. She had originally hoped it was some sort of charm and she could use it to contact Alvie, but nothing happened and Hazel reluctantly told her it was just a regular diamond.

Focusing, Crystal saw her father leading an army of the undead against Melanie's soldiers. Some of the zombies and skeletons exploded randomly and Crystal spotted a few enemy soldiers standing atop cars, clearly concentrating and wrecking Nico's defence squad. Nico faltered every few seconds, but the fear he could torment them with was far more potent than their little 'party tricks'.

It had been like this for four months now, but it seemed to have gone on and be going on forever. Crystal prayed for it to end- too many innocents were being hurt, gods knew if there were any causalities. Adrian was terrified, not that he would admit it out loud, but he could no longer hide his fear. He never strayed far from his mother or his sister. Nico had banned them all from fighting, even though Joy was mortal and mostly a pacifist and Adrian was shy of seven years old. Crystal had volunteered to fight, but upon hearing about how she flickered, Nico had cracked down and told her 'absolutely no way!'

"Why?" She demanded. "I can control it!"

"Can you?" Her father challenged, raising his eyebrows dubiously. "Can you really?"

"Yes." Crystal replied, trying desperately not to falter under his intense, obsidian gaze. He clearly didn't believe her, having seen her flicker in one of her fits of temper when another search for Alvie had come up with no results. The gold she had conjured up and her image pulsing again had sent Joy into a right dither and it had taken Nico ten minutes to steady Crystal. Any longer and she would have disappeared into the eerie shadows of the Underworld.

"You," Nico announced firmly, "are staying here."

"But-"

"End of conversation." He growled. Percy sent her warning look from the sofa. Annabeth was tending a bleeding gash that ran from his right shoulder to his left hip. It didn't look pleasant.

Mentally ranting and raving at Nico made Crystal feel a little better, but she was also glad he couldn't read minds.

_Read minds..._

Her small elation wittered to nothingness in the space of a heartbeat and she sank miserably into the armchair. Joy noticed, her expression sympathetic, but she didn't say anything. Not with everyone here.

Now it was just them; Crystal, Joy and Adrian, but he was asleep, sweetly curled up under a blanket on the sofa.

"Crystal."

"Mom."

"Talk to me, sweetie."

"Nico's an idiot."

"Granted, but you're in no state to fight and-" Crystal frowned at her mother. "And I said I didn't want you fighting."

"What? Why?!"

"Because I'm your mother!" Adrian snorted and stirred. Joy stayed quiet until he settled again, lowering her voice. "If Alvie is still out there, he'll come back for you."

"And his family."

"Unless he still thinks they can't remember him. He has a funny way of doing it, but he's only trying to keep everyone safe."

"Then where is he?!" Crystal demanded angrily. "If anyone can fight Melanie, it's him! But he's not here and we're just throwing ourselves into a fight, hardly making a dent!" Crystal turned to glare out the window, seeing Nico's undead forces had tripled in size, but he was sitting behind a car, looking weary and sick. Percy darted over and she saw the white cotton of bandages peeking from beneath his T-shirt. He was injured and still fighting. And where was she? Hiding away in some demigod's home. Demigods and legacies throughout the city had jumped at the chance to protect their home, but she was stuck here. Useless.

"Crystal, come away from the window." Joy instructed carefully, wariness warbling her tone. Crystal looked at her mother's reflection and then saw her own. She was flickering again.

Sighing, she did as her mother asked, taking her seat at the other end of the sofa. Adrian mumbled something about sheep, twisting and nudging her with his foot. Looking at her hand, she saw she was there, not fading at all. Joy looked relieved, yet her eyes still swam with concern.

"Mom? Where is he?" Crystal sounded like a whiny child, but she didn't care. She missed Alvie.

"I don't know, sweetheart."

"He'll come back?"

"I'm sure he's on his way now."

"How?" Joy blinked at her. "How are you sure?"

"Alvie wouldn't leave you or his family for the world."


	2. Reunited (because I'm nice)

**To Awesome as Annabeth- Yes! It's finally here! And about time too, I know! And it didn't take FOREVER, I was just having a bit of trouble with the starter chapter. But that cliff hanger has been appeased faster than originally planned, so no killing me maybe? Your heart is solid now? Let me see if I can melt that again- wait for my Christmas one-shot, should be up later :P Crystal's powers are kind of lopsided, in a strange sense. She has no control over them whatsoever, so if she gets upset or angry she'll either turn all shadowy like Nico did in BoO after too much shadow travelling or summon precious metals or a mix of the pair. I think I said that in the last few chapters on the first one :D **

**To SharkSwordDemon- Thank you :D**

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><p>Melanie made her presence known at the five month mark. She had hijacked every electronic communication device- TVs, phones, radios, etc. Joel and his technicians were doing their best to locate her, but whatever frequency she was working on scrambled their devices and threw out all sorts of random locations. Joel and Neville were watching the blips intently to see if there was a pattern or a blank space that no blips showed up in; where was she?<p>

"Ladies and gentlemen," She smiled coldly, "I won't waste more of your time. My demands are simple. Each government is to relinquish sums of money, amounts I have already detailed to them. You are also going to declare me as your one and only ruler. Any that oppose me will be shot down for treason. You have five hours. If my demands are not met in full by then..." She paused dramatically. "Well, you will regret it." The communications cut off. Joel cursed his laptop profusely and slammed it shut, fuming.

"Better than new technology and _nothing!"_ His team stayed quiet, drawing up maps of the blips. If Joel was getting stressed, things were definitely bad.

Sighing, Joel combed his fingers through his hair. "How are the ground forces doing?"

"Holding the line for now, but they're not machines. They can't go on forever."

"And the evacuation tunnels?"

"Nearly done." Joel nodded, chewing his lip.

"Joel, you might want to look at this!" They had set up air surveillance and taken control of as many satellites as they could. Very little happened without them knowing it; very little being Melanie.

Leaning on the back of his teammate's chair, Joel frowned at the computer screen.

"Any medics spare?"

"No, but look." The image on the screen zoomed out and hope fluttered through Joel. Other members of the team were leaning in out of curiosity and a few cheers went up.

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><p>Percy had been hit. He and Annabeth had been leading the Greeks alongside Clarisse and the Ares cabin counsellor. Annabeth didn't see it happen. She had just dispatched of one of Melanie's men when Percy staggered into her, grimacing.<p>

"Percy? What is it?" He didn't reply, unsteadily meeting her gaze, his hand clawing at his chest through his armour. "Seaweed Brain?"

"He got hit with one of their magic things!" Clarisse grunted, slamming her fist into an opponent's face. He dropped like a sack of potatoes. "Right here!" She tapped herself on the chest and threw herself into deeper combat.

"Percy, focus on me." Annabeth ordered, fumbling for the last of her nectar. He tried to refuse it, but she glared at him. "Seaweed Brain, do as you're told!" He tried to protest and she snapped into action, forcing him into swallowing the godly drink.

"Hey, what-?" Annabeth looked up from tending to her husband to see what had stunned Clarisse. "What's in Hades is going on?" She demanded.

All enemy forces lining the street had dropped their weapons and shields and magic powers to cover their ears and yell and cry in pain. Some stumbled away, tripping over debris and abandoned possessions; Annabeth saw blood seeping from their ears, staining their hands scarlet.

One by one, they turned and fled, leaving everything behind. Annabeth's heart soared- those weapons and shields would definitely rearm demigods and legacies.

But what had caused the mass retreat?

Percy stood a little straighter and mumbled incoherently, pointing with his sword. Annabeth followed the misdirection, not quite grasping what she saw before her.

A slight figure, average height roughly and in a white-golden cloak was kneeling over an injured legacy. Within a minute, the legacy was back on her feet and cleared of bloodstains, raring to go. She thanked her healer, shaking their hand vigorously.

Then they came to them.

Alvie dropped his hood, almost tentatively. Looking very sheepish.

"You have some _serious_ explaining to do." Annabeth told him, doing her best to conceal her smile. Alvie nodded in agreement, murmuring a hello to his father and resting a hand on his chest.

"Keep still." He advised. Percy had no trouble doing that, frowning down at his son, slowly processing what was going on. Gradually, his eyes sharpened. He blinked a few times and then grinned, smothering his son in a firm hug. Alvie squirmed and gasped, Percy all but crushing his ribs.

"You're mom's right," Percy agreed, abruptly letting him go, "you have some serious explaining to do, mister."

"I know, I know." Alvie prodded his father's chest experimentally. "Shouldn't have too many problems if you take it easy." Percy did a double take. "Maybe cut down on the demigod stuff," Alvie continued, oblivious to his dad's disapproving look.

"Are you saying I'm too old for this?"

"Yes. No!" Alvie corrected hastily, cottoning on. "I just meant... I... ooohhh..." He pushed his hands through his hair, trying to figure out how to get out of this hole. His parents' humour died there; a thick scar diagonally traced from just above Alvie's eye and up, disappearing into his hairline.

"How'd you do that?" Percy asked, brushing aside Alvie's hair to get a better look.

"Looks like a knife." Annabeth commented, her fingertips dancing across the old wound. "Alvie..." She warned.

"I'll explain later." He mumbled, looking back up at his dad. "I didn't mean to call you old, I just," He tapped Percy on the chest again, "think you should go easy now. That wasn't a nice spell."

"Dammit, ruined my streak." Annabeth smacked her husband's arm, Alvie trying to sift through the sarcasm.

"Do as he says, Percy." She warned. "Did you make them go away?" She asked her son, waving in the general direction of the retreated army. He nodded vaguely, still puzzling over his father's comment. "How?"

"Issued a high-pitched sound directly into their brains." He replied, scratching at his chin. "They won't come back for a day or so, no matter how much Melanie screams at them."

"Plenty of time for you and Crystal to get reacquainted then!" Percy said cheerily. Alvie looks stricken. "What?"

"She's going to kill me."

"Aha!" Percy clapped him on the shoulder. "That just means she missed you." Alvie wrung his hands nervously, his eyes darting from one parent to the other.

"Did you?" He asked quietly. "Did you miss me?" Annabeth smiled softly and drew him into a hug. Percy joined in.

"Of course we did, sweetie." Alvie relaxed a fraction, relieved, and hugged them back.

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><p>"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" Crystal raged as soon as she got over the shock of seeing Alvie in the main room. She wanted to hit him, hug him, kill him, kiss him all at once, not sure where to start.<p>

It ended up with a fierce hug that cracked his ribs. Unbeknownst to her, Percy and Annabeth exchanged sly smiles. "You're an idiot." Crystal murmured into his chest.

"I'm a Jackson boy," Alvie told her, remembering something Tobias had said earlier, "we're all idiots."

"Hey!" Percy protested. Annabeth hit him once and he fell silent, pretending to sulk.

"Group hug!" Tobias called. He grabbed those nearest to him- Joy and Max- and initiated the group hug, completely ignoring Alvie's sudden disapproval of so many people. "You love it really, bro." Tobias grinned, ruffling Alvie's hair. "Ooh, nice battle scar."

"What?" Crystal pinned Alvie's hair back with her fingers and examined the scar. "How did you do that?" She demanded. "Where have you been? What have you been doing? Where were you when Melanie attacked?"

"Give him a chance to answer, Crystal." Nico half-laughed. He was sat by the window, balanced on the wide shelf below it and tending a gash on his thigh.

"Well?" She added, drawing back and crossing her arms firmly. Alvie regarded her for a second and then the rest of us family, his gaze lingering on each individual for a few seconds.

"It's a long story." He eventually said. "I'll tell you all when this is over."

"Are you going to stop Melanie?" Adrian asked excitedly.

"I'm going to try."

"Smack her in the face for me," Louisa grumbled, restringing her bow, "'n' I _might_ forgive ya for bein' an idiot."


	3. Filth

Alvie was going to spend the night tracking Melanie and planning a response to her malevolence. He hadn't told them where he had been the past few months- he had sold the house they had worked so hard on in England, but that was all he had said. He had been called out to help with the injured, returning two hours later exhausted but happy to have helped.

Crystal was going to grille him after her shower. She seemed to be having more showers than usual lately- seeing as she wasn't allowed to fight, she had nothing to do but sit around all day. Out of boredom, she had numerous showers. It was a good place to think.

She had come back to Nico's apartment; the others were still at the Jackson residence. It was too crowded for her liking and their tiredness, wounds and discarded armour were reminders of her uselessness.

A timid knock on the door made her jump.

"Crystal?" Alvie called. "You OK?"

"I thought you were out?"

"I was." He agreed. "You OK?"

"I'm fine."

"No you're not." She sighed. "You're not useless."

"Well, it's not like I'm rushing around helping." She muttered harshly. Alvie was quiet for a few seconds and she felt a pleasantly warm feeling trickle down her spine, nothing to do with the running water. "Everyone else is out fighting," She found herself saying, "and I'm stuck in like a lemon; I'm not allowed to fight or helping the medics or help with weapons or anything." Annoyance burned into anger and she hit the wall, making the shower head shake. "Stupid!" She cursed. "Stupid Nico and his stupid... ugh! He won't let me do anything because of this stupid flickering business and-"

"And Melanie would get you."

"What?"

"Melanie's ordered her army to take you prisoner."

"How do you know that?" She heard a slightly tapping, his fingers drumming anxiously on the door. "Alvie?"

"I... I was there. For... for a week or so. Just to get a layout of things and... well, that doesn't really matter. I heard the orders and got out of there. Came back."

"She hates me though. Why would she want me?"

"To get me, I think. I'm not sure."

"No, you know. I can tell by your voice that you know." She switched the shower off to hear him better, carefully clambering out and wrapping herself in a towel.

"Well, like you said, she... she hates you so... if she gets you, she gets me and... she, she gets to... hurt you too." He finished quietly. Crystal wrung her hair out over the sink, frowning at her reflection in the steamed up mirror. "Crystal?"

"Alvie."

"Are you mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad at you?"

"I-I left and... and didn't... I let you worry. Let you all worry. And you're in danger." His voice caught. "You could get hurt and... it'll be my fault... I-I couldn't... if you... I wouldn't know..."

"Alvie, don't worry so much. I'm a big girl now; I can take care of myself." She sensed his hesitation from the other side of the door and she marched over, throwing back the lock and swinging the door open in a second. He seemed terrified to see her in nothing but a towel, slapping a hand over his eyes and burning a fierce scarlet. Crystal couldn't help but laugh. "Alvie, I'm your _girlfriend_."

"You're not wearing anything." He mumbled. If it was possible, he had gone a darker shade of red.

"I've got a towel on."

"Nothing else."

"You know, most guys would jump at the chance to see their girlfriend starkers." He shook his head and murmured something else, taking a nervous step backwards. Crystal snickered and brushed past; making sure her arm caught his ever so slightly. He awkwardly cleared his throat and bustled off to the kitchen, tripping over his own feet as he did so. Crystal felt like crying, it was so funny. She had got her usually level-headed boyfriend in a right state simply by having a shower.

_She knew his weakness_.

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><p>Alvie hid from her until she was fully-clothed and promising not to pull another stunt like that. "Come on, Alvie, it was just a bit of fun!" She felt eyes on her and turned curiously. Alvie was lingering nervously by the kitchen, still a little pink in the face, but calmer. "Were you invisible?" She asked. He nodded hesitantly. "I thought I saw shadows moving about." Alvie wrung his hands and she noticed that his eyes were darting about more than usual, unsure where to look. "You're like an old-timey gentlemen. You know," She added at his befuddled look, "the ones that fainted when the women showed just a tiny bit of ankle or shoulder." He blushed again and looked down. "Aah, the almighty Alvie Jackson, rendered speechless by his previously nude girlfriend." He reddened further, probably chewing his lip; Crystal was convinced he was, but she couldn't see his face.<p>

She took a step towards him experimentally and his eyes shot back at her briefly, startled. "Alvie, I'm not going to eat you or anything. Honestly." She laughed. "You're such a sweetie." She danced forward and caught him in a hug, kissing him lightly. He was torn between horror at her teasing and longing to hug her back after so many months of separation. "So… how are you going to sort this Melanie-whatsit out?"

"Um…" Crystal peered into his eyes and saw he was trying to get his thoughts realigned. "Um… I-I've… I've got the layout of everything and… and I-" He broke off and his eyes narrowed, sparking that pure white. Crystal made to ask him what the matter was when glass smashed from somewhere in the apartment. "Bathroom." He told her, his voice firm without a trace of a stammer. "Lock the door." The bathroom had the smallest window. Even skinny little Charlie or Adrian couldn't get through there, (they had tried, everyone else had laughed).

Alvie gave her his knife and ushered her to the bathroom. She got there just as someone thundered out of the kitchen. She wanted to help and was all for dashing out again when Alvie looked round. "Go." He told her. His eyes were blazing that unearthly glow and she knew she had to otherwise… something. Something bad.

So, she did as she was told and slammed the bolt home. She could only guess what was happening.

And then…

"Why hello."

"Wh-? How did you get in here?!" Crystal wrenched the bolt and door back open and stumbled out. "Alvie!" She scolded. "Look! There is _filth_ in the bathroom and I spent all day yesterday cleaning it!"

"Now, that's not very polite." Melanie frowned. "What happened to treating your guests with respect?"

"You? _Respect_? Ha!" Crystal brandished the knife, nearly poking Alvie's eye out. "Hell would have frozen over before I paid any respect to you!"

"Crystal…" She felt Alvie's hand on her wrist and calm flooded through her.

"Ah, yes. Up to your little tricks again, are we Alvie?" Melanie smirked. "Oh, if only they knew the truth, eh?" Sparks shot from Alvie's hand and he clenched his fist. "Let's do this properly." Melanie decided, hands on her hips. "Outside."

"Alvie?" Crystal took his spark-free hand.

"And another thing." Melanie snapped her fingers and suddenly Crystal wasn't with Alvie. She was somewhere dark and cold. Somewhere that smelt of rotting flesh and faeces. She put out her hands and an unpleasant shock snapped up her arms, throwing her back. "Don't try to break free, Crystal." Melanie's voice rang out, echoing and taunting. "Only I can break that cage. Anyone else and…" She chuckled darkly. "Well. I don't think they'd appreciate you as much as itty pieces all over the place."

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><p><strong>Last bit was kind of spontaneous. I'll have to see where I can go from there. Is this OK? <strong>


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